The Princess Blog

So far, I have not read a single book by Abigail Manning that I haven't enjoyed.  Insomniac's Curse  is no exception. This "Sleeping Beauty" retelling is a creative reimagining that takes the story in a bold new direction. I have never read a book that reminded me so much of the dichotomy in the video game  Slay the Princess , which is really saying something because that game makes you think. It has lots of surprises with a hero and heroine that are easy to love. This book is a magical escape from the world we know, with a sweet romance and a few subtle references to the Disney movie. I found it a relaxing read with plenty of thrills along the way. Kaliope is an innocent maiden living in the woods, being raised by her three spinster aunts. She has a hard time sleeping at night, and for good reason. When she falls asleep, she has episodes where she loses control of her body and launches into violent attacks on the villagers. Her aunts have done their best to hide h...

Nowadays, reboots of nostalgic properties have become so commonplace that it's difficult to get excited  anymore. In the case of Winx Club , an animated reboot, albeit CGI, is more of a correction/apology for the horrendous live-action remake  that came out four years ago. Fate: The Winx Saga had none of the magic, visuals, or whimsy that made Winx Club such a beloved franchise. Rainbow SpA  issued a different type of apology last year in the form of a completely original magical girl series . Mermaid Magic brought back the charm and nostalgia of magical girl transformations, fantasy, and innocent romance that Fate was missing. Now, they are redirecting their attention back to their original fans by focusing on their newest iteration of Winx Club, which is allegedly coming to Netflix this fall. Although Rainbow launched a short teaser  for the 2025 Winx Club reboot late last year, there was very little revealed about what the girls would look like in their fairy for...

Sara Farnsworth's Realms of Caelia series is probably my favorite series that I've read this year. I love how each book seamlessly combines two fairy tales and is packed with magic and romance. In fact, she just may have inspired me to write a dual retelling this summer as well.  Lake of the Wild Swans  is the second book in the series and fills the gap between Beauty in the Tower  and Ella and the Seven Dwarfs . Although these books work okay as standalones, there are so many recurring characters and scenes amongst them that it's best to read the whole series in order. I read an ARC of Ella and the Seven Dwarfs  before this one and felt like it was missing some key scenes until I realized they were all in Lake of the Wild Swans . This book is a combined retelling of "Swan Lake" and "The Wild Swans,"  which both fit together very well due to the overarching swan transformation theme . Princess Odette is a teenager with social anxiety who is intimidate...

The latest ARC I received from NetGalley was The Princess Knight  by Cait Jacobs. This book has a generic-sounding title , which made me expect something along the lines of the overdone warrior princess trope . I was pleasantly surprised to find that it actually had a feminine protagonist who wasn't much of a fighter. The book is actually a stealth medieval retelling of Legally Blonde , particularly the Broadway version. Being a huge fan of the musical, I had a lot of fun catching the many references to it peppered throughout the book. For marketing purposes, I do wish the title made it more obvious that this is a retelling because I think that would help widen its reader appeal. I'm not sure exactly what it should be called to do that, though. Royally Blonde ? Legally Knighted ? Legally Princess ? Princess Clia is in an arranged marriage with Prince Domhnall to forge an alliance between their kingdoms. She is blindsided when Domhnall unexpectedly breaks off the engagement for...

Rapunzel's Gambit  by Mary Mecham is the second ARC I received from the upcoming  All That Glitters mult-author series of fairy tale retellings. Though it is meant to be a retelling of "Rapunzel,"  it has a lot more in common with a book from 1990 called Dealing with Dragons , which was about a princess who was tired of her royal duties and ran away to live with a dragon. This version of Rapunzel is feisty, aggressive, and a bit spoiled. A far cry from an innocent maiden who was kidnapped as a child, she is raised by a wealthy king and believes she can do a better job running the kingdom than him due to his overtaxation of the people. It follows many of the modern princess tropes  from recent Disney remakes . Princess Rapunzel's favorite hobby is causing trouble for everyone around her. She is a shameless flirt, a shrewd chess player, and a royal rebel. Her father is frustrated with her antics and decides to marry her off to the first person who can slay the dragon...

The recent talk about live-action "Snow White" adaptations has brought to light some older ones that may have otherwise been lost to time. One such example is The Charmings , a family sitcom from 1987 about Snow White and her family waking up after a thousand-year sleep in modern-day Burbank and adjusting to life in the real world. It gives off major Enchanted vibes, but a lot more campy. Even watching the show today feels like a fever dream, so I can only imagine how people who grew up with it as a faint memory would still question its existence. All 21 episodes of its limited run are available to watch on YouTube in their full hokey glory. This version of Snow White many not pick up a sword and lead a revolution against her wicked stepmother like most modern interpretations , but she does learn to become a career woman by designing dresses for a successful fashion company. She lives with her husband, Eric Charming, their two children, Thomas and Cory, a dwarf named Lut...

After Disney has destroyed their legacy  with one of the worst live-action adaptations of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" in history, it seems like a good time to explore other options. Snow White and the Three Stooges  is a 1961 musical that retells the fairy tale with the famous comedian entertainers Larry, Curly, and Mo, better known as the Three Stooges, taking the place of the seven dwarfs. The title might make the movie sound like a tongue-in-cheek comedy, but from the moment it opens with its classic storybook illustrations, it is clearly something special. Far from a comedy, this film treats every picture-perfect fairy tale moment with the utmost sincerity, from the tragic loss of the king to the prince's found family. It stars Olympic figure skater Carol Heiss  as Snow White and incorporates graceful ice choreography into the film's picturesque winter aesthetics. Snow White and the Three Stooges  starts out similarly to the fairy tale, with a beautiful ...

Rapunzel and the Sea Witch (or, The Little Mermaid and the Tower)  by Kim Bussing is the third book from the traditionally published series The Princess Swap . I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Unfortunately, I have not read the second book in the series yet, but I don't think I missed anything important since each book can be enjoyed as a standalone. Like Cinderella and the Beast , this book contains a role reversal between two classic princesses. In this case, the swap occurs between "The Little Mermaid,"  whose name here is Hana, and the self-titled "Rapunzel."  Since these are two of my favorite fairy tales, I'm going easy on this one. While I think this book would be an enjoyable read for its younger target audience, I'm not sure I'd recommend it for teens and adults who also enjoy fairy tales. Hana, the youngest mermaid of six sisters, was always curious about the human world. She also hopes to stop a dangerous storm from swallowi...

Amphibian's Kiss by Lichelle Slater is the first ARC I received from an upcoming multi-author series of fairy tale retellings called All That Glitters . This entry in the sparkling series is a unique retelling of "The Frog Prince" with an organized magic system, a fairy realm , and lots of romantic tension. It does an excellent job of paying homage to the fairy tale while keeping the story fresh with surprises and drama. The main character is a witch living in a world where magic is banned, a plot thread that is near and dear to my heart . The book contains some fun animal sidekicks and a main character who is a vegetarian due to her innate ability to communicate with animals. Elowyn cannot forgive Prince Kaison for her mother's imprisonment, and who can blame her? It isn't easy being a witch in a kingdom where magic is illegal. Though Kai was once her best friend, El now has only her talking hedgehog for companionship. That is, however, until Kai finds himsel...

Ties of Shadow by Alora Carter is another ARC I received from the Tethered Hearts multi-author series about characters who are binded together by magical ties. So far, this series has been surprisingly dark, especially in comparison to Sacrificed Hearts , which shares similar themes. Despite its simplistic nature, this book has some levity to it in the form of cute animal sidekicks that live the shadow world and make wisecracks to the main characters. It does a good job developing the romance and is thematically similar to Mask of Deception and Sacrifice , which was inspired by "Beauty and the Beast" and Phantom of the Opera . The dark/light dynamic of the lead characters works well, allowing them to balance out each other's strengths and weaknesses. Lady Aelia has a hard time saying "no." She is dangerously loyal to the crown and Prince Leon who was once a dear friend to her. However, when those she is most loyal to ask her to sacrifice herself based on the...

The Renaissance Faire is always a great place to bring out your inner princess. I've been to several faires including the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Los Angeles. This weekend was my first time attending the Sherwood Forest Faire in McDade, TX . True to its name, this faire is held in a large forest and is themed after Robin Hood. There were several areas named after parts of the legend, including Nottingham Castle, Maid Marian's chapel, and a humorous snack stand called Prince John's Nuts. The faire had an ongoing story that took place in multiple locations throughout the day about a wicked duke trying to tear down Robin Hood's good name and force a princess to marry him. There were numerous activities available for an additional fee, including a quest, an escape room, and some relaxing carnival rides mixed into the scenic labyrinth of buildings and vendors. My first destination was the Faery Courtyard, where the mischievous fae failed to appear for their 11:00 meet...

I received an ARC of Claiming the Princess  by Charis Michaels through NetGalley . Although I usually read clean romance books, I was intrigued by the concept behind the Hidden Royals series , which involves exiled members of a royal family who live in hiding until they fall in love. This is the third and final book in the series, and it made me want to read the other two. The story reminded me a lot of Anastasia , which is one of my favorite movies. Even though there were three brief passages that I needed to skip over, it was surprisingly sweet, adventurous, and relaxing, with charmingly flawed characters and an enticing plot. When Captain Luke Bannock saves a prized member of the royal court from a vicious nobleman, he is offered a reward of his choosing. He selects the hand of the princess that his enemy wishes to marry as a form of revenge. Little did he know that Princess Danielle was raised by surrogate parents who never told her of her royal roots. When he realizes that he...

I was on the fence about reviewing the new Snow White  remake for a while, but since this is The Princess Blog, it's only fair . (See what I did there?) This movie has been the source of endless controversy over the past five years or so. Some of it was unfounded, particularly when it involved racist comments toward the lead actress , but some of it is justified. When the movie was first announced, I shared my thoughts about how the story of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" has already been retold countless times by other studios in a way that modernized it with respect toward the original fairy tale and didn't step on Walt Disney's legacy. Creating a blatant copy of the first feature-length animated movie of all time  and taking away the one thing that made it special—the animation—is an insult to the animation medium as an art form. My stance on this has not changed, so here are my thoughts on this sham of a film. Ever since the backlash to Rachel Zegler...

Although I am no stranger to ARCs or book reviews, Goodbye, My Princess  by Fei Wo Si Cun  is the first ARC that I completed for my new account on NetGalley . I had no idea what to expect from this one. It is an English translation of a Chinese story, so I was hoping for some fun Chinese mythology revolving around immortals and spirits in the vein of Ashes of Love  or Love Between Fairy and Devil . This book contained very little of that lore, and the characters are quite human. There was one supernatural element, but it was more dark and depressing than fantastical. For those of you who enjoy Chinese dramas, it looks like there was  a 2019 TV series inspired by the book. Overall, this book is a cautionary tale about trust and sacrifice. The first thing that threw me off about this book is that it is published by Simon & Schuster's Children's Publishing , which led me to believe that it would be a quick and easy read. It is neither of those things. Although ther...

I recently received an ARC from Celeste Baxendell  for This Rotting Heart , which takes place in the same original fantasy elf world as Ties of Starlight   from the Tethered Hearts series . The book had a lot in common with Ties of Starlight  and could have easily been another entry into the Tethered Hearts series. Both stories are about arranged marriages between a human woman and an elf king in which the woman is initially reluctant but grows to love her husband over time. The post-marital love trope seems to be a recurring theme in a lot of modern fantasy stories . This Rotting Heart  contains many similarities to Celeste Baxendell's other stories , including romantic misunderstandings and characters being forced to make difficult decisions that hurt the ones they care about. Princess Hellebore is an alchemist who is wholly devoted to her craft and wishes for nothing more than to study rotting plants day and night. When she is captured by the sun elves, she fight...